Urbana
Urbana is a city in and the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. Urbana is notable for sharing the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with its twin city of Champaign.
Market at the Square
The Market at the Square, also known as the Farmers' Market, has been a community event in Urbana since 1979. Every Saturday morning from some time in May to some time in November, dozens of vendors set up shop in the Lincoln Square parking lot in downtown Urbana. They primarily sell local produce (including corn, tomatoes, lettuce and watermelons), but one can also find local crafts, music, kettle corn and booths for various community and political organizations.
Urbana Free Library
The Urbana Free Library, one of the first public libraries in Illinois, was founded in 1874 and is located in the downtown area. The historic building which houses the library was built in 1918. A major new addition was opened in 2005.
The library houses historical archives of Champaign County which can be used for genealogical research. Established in 1956, the Champaign County Historical Archives is a department of the Urbana Free Library that maintains a research-level collection on the history and genealogy of Champaign County. In 1987 it was designated the official repository for non-current Champaign County records. Although it focuses on Champaign County, the Archives holds extensive collections of works dealing with the rest of Illinois and those states that document the significant migration routes of the communities that comprise Champaign County. The CCHA is also home to the Local History Online database. Local History Online gives access to holdings (books and journals, Champaign County records, City of Urbana municipal records, newspapers, directories, school yearbooks, images, maps, oral histories, local organization newsletters and other special collections) of the Champaign County Historical Archives, including digital content. The catalog is frequently updated.
The library is publicly funded and receives additional support from about 600 people who have joined the Friends of the Urbana Free Library.
Station Theatre
Station Theatre, run by the Celebration Company, hosts live performances.
The Urbana Sweetcorn Festival
The Urbana Sweetcorn Festival is an annual festival in Urbana. It was first held in August 1975 in the Busey Bank parking lot in downtown Urbana. It was a community event put on by employees of Busey Bank. Since then the Sweetcorn Festival has continued to grow. The Urbana Business Association is now responsible for the planning of the festival, over the years adding a local car show, an expanded family area, live music on multiple stages, food, vendors, beer, in the heart of downtown Urbana.
In addition to corn and beverages, the festival has offered a range of activities and events, including a display of antique and other collectors' cars and volksmarches, arts events, a dog show, and a book sale organized by the Friends of the Urbana Free Library.
Candlestick Lane
Candlestick Lane is the name for a neighborhood in eastern Urbana. This neighborhood consists of Grant Place and adjacent properties on Fairlawn and Eastern Drives. It is called Candlestick Lane because every year the residents decorate their yards for Christmas with a lot of lights and figures. The tradition began in 1961 (maybe 1960) as a house-decorating contest sponsored by the Illinois Power Company. The neighborhood used its prize money to purchase electric candlesticks for each home. The City of Urbana installs special red and green street signs, reading "Candlestick Lane" and "Grant Place" during the Holiday season. The lights are turned on from around 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. from the third Saturday in December through New Years Day.
The Urbana Lincoln Hotel
The Urbana Lincoln Hotel is connected to Lincoln Square Mall, an indoor walking mall, in the center of Urbana. The hotel was designed by famed Urbana architect Joseph Royer in 1923 and opened several rooms on November 1, 1923, to accommodate guests for the University's Homecoming game. The original building was built in the Tudor Revival style. A convention center was added in the 1970s in the Bavarian style. While being forced to close twice between 1990 and 2009, the hotel was purchased by a private developer in 2010 and underwent major rehabilitation. The hotel opened under new management and with a new name, Urbana Landmark Hotel, on December 1, 2012, but it closed in July 2015 and sold January 2020 for redevelopment as a Hilton Tapestry hotel.